Director David O. Russell is on one hell of a hot streak lately. There was The Fighter in 2010, Silver Linings Playbook last year, and now American Hustle, which will rack up year end award nominations just like its previous two recent siblings. Combining the casts from The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook to staff American Hustle is a wise move since American audiences remain in awe of anything Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper touch. Even though Christian Bale gives the film’s best performance and Amy Adams once again knocks her part out of the park, prepare to be inundated with mostly Lawrence and Cooper news. Russell is quoted as saying, “I hate plots. I am all about characters, that’s it.” American Hustle’s characters resemble caricatures however. Every screen persona has the feeling of forced eccentricity rather than an honest portrayal as complex and evolving portraits. Plot wise, American Hustle is very loosely based on the FBI’s ABSCAM operations from the late ‘70s – early ‘80s. This is plot though and as you will soon pick up, plot takes a back seat for anything and everything that lets you know you are in the 1970s. The perms, the awful clothes, the disco, and the novelty of the microwave oven take front and center over something silly like plot. This is a risky move on Russell’s part since American Hustle concerns con men. Plots about con men and their double-dealing are always complicated and require attentive focus. Russell, however, noticeably rushes past anything polysyllabic, barely cares to explain the ins and outs, all to try and squeeze in some more ‘70s atmosphere. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) has the worst name for a con man ever; are you really going to get ripped off by a guy named Irving Rosenfeld? With his raspy voice, droopy beer gut, and God-awful comb over, he runs small time scams; Irving is street smart enough to steal from morons and stay just enough under the radar to escape the attention of the mob and the feds, in that order. When Irving hooks up with Sydney (Amy Adams), who enjoys the thrill of the scam more than the monetary gains, their cons become too successful and attract slimy FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso would have a nice arrest and prosecution under his belt if his ambitions didn’t outweigh his brains. Dangling Irving and Sydney as bait, DiMaso reels bigger fish into his net. He stumbles upon Camden, New Jersey’s mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), and then gets in way over his head when he almost falls into the lap of mobster Victor Tellegio (Robert De Niro), who everyone nervously refers to as Meyer Lansky’s right-hand man. Here is a guy that has Irving running scared in any direction but forward once he learns who is now involved. Again, the plot particulars are beside the point. The point is the art department. Nobody should receive a higher paycheck than the production designer and the set director. American Hustle is all shag carpet, chest hair, and lapels the size of 747s. The A-list talent did not sign on for the caper, of which there is remarkably little, but for another chance to ham it up in a film helmed by David O. Russell in the middle of what will be considered the most creative phase of his career. This says something coming so long after Three Kings (1999). Go see American Hustle to see Bradley Cooper in a million little hair curlers, to see Jennifer Lawrence lock up another Oscar nomination just by dancing around the room to ‘Live and Let Die’, and to bear witness to cinema’s most amazing comb over ever filmed. Don’t poke at the script too much or you will not like what you find. The dialogue, build-up, climax, and payoff are second hand. The script is the Betamax to the set’s VHS.